Biology
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From the Greek for 'pig' and 'food', Hyophorbe species are so called as their fruits are said to be eaten by pigs. The specific name lagenicaulis means 'bottle stalk' in Latin. The bottle palm is a monoecious plant, bearing both sexes on each plant. As the female flowers die, they are followed by fleshy fruits (2).
Conservation
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As one of the most successful and exemplary cases of conservation in the world, Round Island is a managed reserve and is now preparing for the introduction of carefully chosen critically endangered animals and plants from Mauritius (3). Regeneration of the bottle palm will benefit immeasurably from the removal of goats and rabbits (1).
Description
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The swollen, smooth, grey trunk of this palm species is bulbous at the bottom, resembling a bottle when young. As the tree matures, the width of the trunk evens out, appearing slightly conical in the oldest individuals. Emerging from the top of the trunk are between four and eight long fronds (leaves). Each frond arches upwards and curves down splendidly. The fronds are feather-like with leaflets splaying out from each side of a central midrib (leaf vein). Numerous white flowers grow on stalks at the crown of the tree, and following the flowering, small, round fruits appear, changing from green to black as they age (2).
Habitat
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Found amongst lowland palm savanna (1).
Range
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Endemic to Round Island; part of the Mascarene Island group in the Indian Ocean, 20 km off the northern coast of Mauritius (2).
Status
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The bottle palm is classified as Critically Endangered (CR D) on the IUCN Red List 2004 (1).
Threats
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The palm savannah habitat still found on Round Island was once characteristic of the northern plain of Mauritius, but this is now lost to development. As one of the few islands still free from introduced rats, Round Island has a high conservation value. It supports many breeding seabirds as well as eight species of native reptile. It suffered following the introduction of goats and rabbits in the 19th century, as their zealous over-grazing caused extreme soil erosion. In the 1970s the goats were successfully eradicated, but the rabbits were more difficult to remove. As the destruction caused by the rabbits continued to increase into the 1980s, Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust funded three scientists who were challenged to exterminate the rabbits on Round Island. In just two months, these scientists were able to poison every rabbit on the island, and a year later in 1987 it was declared rabbit-free. Invasive weeds were also removed, and native vegetation was found to be growing prolifically (3).
Hyophorbe lagenicaulis
provided by wikipedia EN
Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, the bottle palm or palmiste gargoulette, is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is native to Round Island, Mauritius.
Description
Hyophorbe lagenicaulis showing enlarged trunk and roots
Bottle palm has a large swollen (sometimes bizarrely so) trunk. It is a myth that the trunk is a means by which the palm stores water. Bottle palms have only four to six leaves open at any time. The leaves of young palms have a red or orange tint, but a deep green is assumed at maturity. The flowers of the palm arise from under the crownshaft.
This species is often confused with its relative, the Spindle Palm, which also has a swollen trunk. But the Spindle palm's trunk swells in the middle (resembling the shape of a spindle), whereas the trunk of the Bottle palm swells from near the base and tapers further up. Its inflorescence branches in 4 orders, and its 2.5 cm fruits can be orange or black. The trunk of both species becomes more and more slender as the palm ages.
On Mauritius, the only other extant Hyophorbe species is the exceedingly rare and critically endangered Hyophorbe vaughanii. The Bottle palm can be distinguished from this species by its swollen trunk when young; by its much smaller (2.5 cm) orange or black fruits; and by its inflorescence, which branches in four orders rather than three.[2]
Distribution and habitat
The bottle palm is naturally endemic to Round Island, off the coast of Mauritius. While habitat destruction may destroy the last remaining palms in the wild, the survival of the species is assured due to its ubiquitous planting throughout the tropics and subtropics as a specimen plant. It is one of three Hyophorbe species which naturally occur in Mauritius, and one of only two that are still extant.
Cultivation
Bottle palms are very cold sensitive and are killed at 0 °C (32 °F) or colder for any appreciable length of time. They may survive a brief, light frost, but will have foliage damage. Only southern Florida and Hawaii provide safe locations in the US to grow Bottle Palm, although mature flowering specimens may be occasionally be seen in favored microclimates around Cape Canaveral and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater in coastal central Florida. It makes a fine container-grown palm in other locations as long as it is protected from the cold and not overwatered.
Rare specimen due to the weird trunk shape (Bras Panon, Reunion island), note the epiphyte growing on the trunk
Close up of the same specimen (Reunion island)
See also
- The Beaucarnea (ponytail palms et al.) are sometimes called bottle palms.
References
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Hyophorbe lagenicaulis: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, the bottle palm or palmiste gargoulette, is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is native to Round Island, Mauritius.
- license
- cc-by-sa-3.0
- copyright
- Wikipedia authors and editors
